Alpha 9
by KuraiTeiruzu696
Summary: When Ratchet & Clank are called to the planet Kyergwa, they spot familiar enemy robots and learn that an allegiance of Ratchet's worst foes are out to capture a powerful alien, the last Inxcroid native in existence that is said to be the key to a prophecy that will put the entire universe under an evil curse. In the words of the plumber, "It'll have some darn ugly consequences."


**Planet: Yerek**  
**Sector: Zarkov**  
**Classification: Alpha 9**  
**Galaxy: Polaris**  
**Time: A While Ago**

"The Zarkov Sector was abandoned 20 years ago after it was given an Alpha 9 classification."

Clank was actually pretty shocked with himself for not knowing what this classification was. Usually, he memorized these sort of things for fun, so he felt a little agitated when he realized that he couldn't access what Alpha 9 meant in his memory banks because the file merely didn't exist. He kept all of the knowledge regarding sector classifications, universal titles, and official labels compartmentalized in a specific, isolated section of his memory banks specifically for those items. He quickly ran through all the Alpha classifications that he currently had stored, hoping that he would remember just what the Alpha 9 classification entailed. Alpha 1: uninhabitable, the reason being at the discretion of the authorities and otherwise confidential. Alpha 2: planetary emergency, specifically regarding the condition of the planet. Alpha 2.5: planetary emergency, specifically regarding the condition of the inhabitants or the authority on the planet. Alpha 3: Galactic emergency, which focused on all the planets inside or close to the galaxy. Alpha 4: War evacuation, which explained itself…

The list only reached Alpha 8.5, which was the rarest of Alpha classifications to be issued. It deemed the planet unsafe due to undead machinery and robotic life forms springing up from their graves and causing harm to the inhabitants. Only a few planets have been abandoned for this reason though. Clank blinked in confusion. Maybe he _should _have accepted that shiny new update from Al.

"What is… Alpha 9?" Clank asked Talwyn over the radio nervously, still scolding himself for not learning this information earlier during his spare time.

Her voice had a grave tone to it.

"It means _haunted_."

Ratchet's ears perked up just as Clank's head tipped to the side in curiosity.

_Haunted…?_

The first thing that came to Clank's mind were ghosts. Ghosts were usually deceased beings who remained after death, either by choice or because they are forced to stay by other unexplainable supernatural forces. To haunt an entire sector would require a vast amount disembodied spirits and phantoms present. He shivered. Was this Vendra Prog's doing? Was she responsible for the disappearance of an entire sector? She didn't… she didn't _murder_ all of the citizens in the Zarkov sector with her unexplainable powers, did she? She wouldn't do that, would she?

Clank's gears whirred. Yes she would. She was capable of anything - especially with that fiery determination of hers, which was only backed up by the fact that she'd been alone in the galaxy for all of her life. She and her brother were trapped in a sort of unwilling isolation, feeling as if they didn't belong in the universe, and only being led along by the false idea that what she was doing would cure the loneliness. Vendra was desperate. She never had a family.

_But neither did Ratchet._

The thought came out of the blue, and Clank blinked a couple of times as he processed the thought.

This was true. His family was trapped in another dimension as well. He was by himself up until he discovered Clank all those years ago on Veldin, and as Clank soon discovered, the Lombax race was trapped in a different dimension. But unlike Vendra, Ratchet didn't seem all that desperate for company. Was it because Vendra grew up in a place full of families in the city, and Ratchet grew up on a planet with few inhabitants? Was it because Vendra just wanted to be part of a family, and Ratchet didn't even know what a family was?

"The president evacuated the entire sector practically overnight."

Clank's attention was drawn back to the situation at hand, and when he heard these words, relief flooded him. So the citizens weren't dead after all. How had he come to draw such a morbid conclusion so quickly anyway?

And as Talwyn explained to Ratchet, a final thought crossed the curious little robot's mind before he too decided to remain focused on the task.

Perhaps… Ratchet didn't turn out like Vendra Prog because Clank had been there for him.

The thought made his mechanical insides hum with pride and glee.

* * *

**Planet: Kyergwa**  
**Sector: Piro**  
**Classifcation(s): Alpha 4, Alpha 9**  
**Galaxy: Ildrid**  
**Present Time**

The following excerpt has been derived from the latest and last confidential holo-report to the Polaris Defense Force received from the Polaris Defense Force Observation Unit 8.

"This is Blarthog from Unit 8 Observation! We-we have a serious situation here! Dr. Nefarious is sending in shiploads of robot soldiers as we speak, and they're rounding up the Kyergwan natives! I overheard a conversation he had with his butler, and I heard something about the Inxcroids, and genocide! I think he's going to -l of- the Kye—w-ns! –nd in reinforce-ts, t-e bots are att-k—g the ba-e! We-re c-"

The remaining holo-report consists of static and several explosions.


End file.
